Cashier

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This article is about the occupation. For the military term, see Cashiering.

A cashier at her register in a Panamian grocery store.

A cashier is a person who scans the goods that the consumer wishes to purchase. After all of the goods have been scanned, the cashier then collects payment for the goods or services exchanged. In one form or another, cashiers have been around for thousands of years. In many businesses, such as grocery stores, the cashier is a "stepping stone" position. Many employers require employees to be cashiers in order to move up to customer service or other positions such as produce.

Cashiers are at risk of repetitive strain injuries due to the repeated movements often necessary to do the job, such as entering information on a keypad or moving product over a scanner.

A less-current meaning of the term referred to the employee of a business responsible for receiving and disbursing money. In a non-retail business, this would be a position of significant responsibility. With an ever-larger proportion of transactions being done using cash substitutes (such as checks, credit cards, debit cards, etc.), the amount of cash handled by such employees has declined, and this usage of the word "cashier" has been largely supplanted by the title comptroller.

In the area of retail banking in the UK, the position of cashier is the same as a bank teller.